(U) SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 002212

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR THE SECRETARY FROM AMBASSADOR TUTTLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016
TAGS: OVIP PGOV PREL MARR ECON UK
SUBJECT: (U) SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT TO
BLACKBURN AND LIVERPOOL

Classified By: Ambassador Robert H. Tuttle. Reasons 1.4 (b, d).

(U) Summary and Overview
--------------


1. (U) Your visit to Blackburn and Liverpool represents an
opportunity to allow Foreign Secretary Straw to reciprocate
your hospitality during his visit to Birmingham last October.
My wife and I look forward to your visit and to accompanying
you and the Foreign Secretary during what promises to be a
most enjoyable weekend. Straw not only wants to show you his
constituency of Blackburn but also wants you to see
first-hand that Northwest England is a prosperous,
multi-ethnic society with a rich culture and history but with
eyes firmly fixed on the future.


2. (U) The town of Blackburn, dating back to the 6th
century, remained a village until the Industrial Revolution
when the cotton industry, breweries, railroads and canals
transformed it into a bustling town. The decline of the
cotton industry in the 20th century brought decline to the
town as well, but you will see -- everywhere -- the results
of current efforts to revitalize Blackburn, from the modern
hospital and the riverside leisure complex to the thriving
aerospace industry and excellent schools. Blackburn also has
implemented a major regeneration effort to enhance its
attractiveness as the Enterprise Capital of the North West.
The town has worked to foster an environment conducive to
business growth with the intent of creating more and better
jobs. The strategy being employed seeks to build on the
region's manufacturing base and diversify into more high-tech
and services industries. Included is an effort to enhance
foreign trade and investment connections.


3. (U) Liverpool has undergone substantial regeneration in
the past decade, and it now has one of the strongest economic
growth rates among all UK cities with a rate of 5.9 percent
in 2005. Years of structural decline in its manufacturing
and port activities following World War II led to large job
losses and high unemployment, but those trends are being
reversed. Though unemployment in Liverpool is about 8
percent compared with the UK average of 5 percent, job
creation has been occurring at a higher pace than in the rest
of the UK. Net new business startups in Merseyside have
grown by around 2 percent in recent years, outpacing the
national average and reflecting the positive efforts to
attract investment and business activities in the city and
region. The city of Liverpool also has been physically
revitalized following its naming as European Capital of
Culture for 2008.


4. (U) During your three-day stop you will have the
opportunity to visit commercial, cultural, religious (both
Christian and Muslim),and educational institutions in both
Blackburn and Liverpool. While your schedule did not permit
you to visit while Straw's beloved Blackburn Rovers soccer
team was playing a home game, your foreign policy address and
a press event will take place in their stadium.

(U) Blackburn
--------------


5. (SBU) The Rt. Hon Jack Straw is the MP for Blackburn,
Lancashire, in the North West of England. The constituency,
a famous old mill town that was a key center for textile
manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution, is relatively
poor and has a large Muslim population. The constituency has
been held by a Labour MP since its creation in the 1950s.
Straw faced a fight in the last General Election. In what
should have been a rock-solid Labour seat, Straw became
vulnerable because many of Blackburn,s 25,000 Muslim voters
were angered by the war in Iraq. In the run up to the
election, anti-war protesters agitated for the Foreign
Secretary's defeat. He was challenged by former British

SIPDIS
ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray who ran on a platform
of opposition to the war in Iraq. The anti-war vote was
split, however, between the Conservatives, the Liberal
Democrats and other anti-war parties. Straw retained his
seat with a comfortable majority of 8000 (although his share
of the vote went down from 53 per cent in 2001 to 42 per cent
in 2005).


6. (SBU) On May 4 local elections will take place across
England, including in Blackburn. Presently, Labour is in
charge with 33 of 64 councilors. However, the Conservatives
and the Liberal Democrats are close behind with 17 and 11
respectively. In 2005, allegations of vote-rigging and
corruption began to grow around the Labour controlled
council. A local councilor, Muhammed Hussain, was jailed for
rigging an election by stealing postal vote ballots, which
could have a serious effect on Labour in this year's

election. There are also fears that the far right
British-National-Party might gain seats.

(U) Liverpool
--------------


7. (U) Liverpool, Great Britain's fifth largest city, is
part of the district of Merseyside. Situated about 5 miles
inland from the Irish Sea, Liverpool boomed during the
nineteenth century as a port town when it was the "Second
Port of the Empire" after London. Since that time, the
population has been falling at a faster rate than any other
English City: from 850,000 in the early 1950s to 450,000
today. During the 1980,s the city fell on hard times with
high crime and unemployment, but since that time it has
undergone successful regeneration and recently beat off stiff
competition to be named as European Capital of Culture for
2008, winning the award in recognition of the city's vision,
enthusiasm and first class cultural heritage. In preparation
for 2008, a BPS 750 million regeneration of the city center
is in progress. Liverpool is recognized worldwide for being
at the center of the explosion of popular music in the 1960s
and for Liverpool Football Club.


8. (U) All five of Liverpool's MPs are Labour. Locally, the
story is a bit different. In the 1980s, the very left-wing
"Militant" movement, led by Derek Hatton, gained control of
the local Labour council and famously took on Margaret
Thatcher and her Conservative government. The Militant
movement was denounced by the then-leader of the Labour
Party, Neil Kinnock. In the 1990s the council had the
highest local taxes but delivered the worst services. As a
result, the Liberal Democrats won control of the council in
the 1990s and have held on to it ever since. Of the 90
locally elected councilors, 60 are Liberal Democrats, 27 are
Labour and 3 are Liberal. One third of the council is
running for re-election this May -- but even if every voter
failed to vote Liberal Democrat, this would not change the
overall composition of the council: it will remain in the
control of the Liberal Democrats.

(U) BAE Systems/JSF
--------------


9. (U) You will have the opportunity to visit BAE Systems,
just outside of Blackburn, which is one of the assembly
facilities for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). BAE plays a
leading commercial role in North West England where it sits
at the heart of a defense cluster of national importance.
With an annual turnover of BPS 4 billion, it provides more
than 35,000 jobs in the area. In addition to the JSF, BAE is
involved in air systems such as the Eurofighter Typhoon,
Tornado, Hawk and Nimrod.


10. (SBU) The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is being
vociferously criticized in the British press by those who
would like to demonstrate that the U.S. is not a reliable
ally and by those who seek greater industrial participation
in the program. This criticism is the result of two issues
within the JSF program:

-- The cancellation of the GE/Rolls Royce engine contract,
and,

-- The inability of the U.S. to guarantee at this point that
the UK will have access to all technology that would allow
Britain to maintain and upgrade its own aircraft.


11. (SBU) The cancellation of the second engine is not only
a matter of money and jobs for the UK but also pride. The
engine was canceled by DoD for budgetary reasons, and the
cancellation is expected to save the program USD 1.8 billion
through FY2011. Otherwise, the UK is doing very well
recouping its USD 2 billion investment, having earned
contracts in the development phase alone worth more than
that. At full production, contracts for UK companies could
reach several times that amount. However, in his March 14
testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Minister for Defense Procurement Lord Drayson argued that, as
a Level 1 partner, the UK should have been consulted on the
matter.


12. (SBU) On technology sharing, the British participants in
JSF are receiving everything they are contractually entitled
to receive and on time. However, since the Defense
Industrial Strategy (DIS) released in December mandates that
HMG should have "appropriate operational sovereignty" over
its defense equipment, HMG and BAE are pushing for much more
and would like U.S. assurances that this will be possible
prior to the December signing of the MOU covering UK
involvement in the program. British complaints about tech

transfer are long-standing and predate the JSF program. But
JSF transfer issues are particularly sensitive, because in
addition to being our closest ally, the UK is also a partner
on the JSF program not just a customer. In his March 14
testimony, Lord Drayson said the UK would pull out of the JSF
program if its tech transfer issues are not resolved by
December. We think this is largely posturing, as the
alternatives are much more expensive.


13. (SBU) This issue is being used by those wishing to
illustrate that the UK will not reap any benefits from its
loyalty to the U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. You
will likely be called upon to demonstrate that the U.S.
respects and trusts the UK. You may wish to highlight that
U.S.-UK cooperation is mutually beneficial in everything
from Iraq to Iran to human rights and democratization. This
includes, perhaps especially, the JSF program from which
thousands of jobs have already been created in the UK.

(U) Pleckgate High School, Mathematics and Computing College
-------------- --------------


14. (U) Pleckgate School was chosen for your visit because
it is an example of academic excellence achieved in an
unpromising socio-economic milieu. The facility is a large
(nearly 1200 pupils) secondary school for boys and girls,
aged 11-16, and has very good links to the community. The
student body is about one-third white British, with a
majority of ethnic Asian (Indian, Pakistani) pupils. More
than half the pupils speak English as a second language.
You will have an opportunity to view the school's facilities
and chat with the student council.

(U) Ewood Park
--------------


15. (U) The Blackburn Rovers football club, founded in 1875,
is Jack Straw's "home team." The renovated stadium seats
about 30,000 and includes a conference and banqueting center.
You will meet some of the players, including goalkeeper Brad
Friedel, a U.S. citizen, and view player facilities and
trophies. The conference center within the stadium will be
the site of your foreign policy speech. Foreign Secretary
Straw will also deliver an address during this session which
is being co-organized by Chatham House.


16. (U) Blackburn Cathedral is Lancashire,s only Anglican
cathedral. Although there has been a church on this site
for centuries, the present building was consecrated in 1826.
The colossal structure on the eastern gable, &The Healing
of the Nations," is an abstract steel and copper circular
piece in which fiber optics between two copper skins make
all seven tons of the sculpture slowly &pulse" or
&breathe," creating changing patterns of light. School
children and members of the local community contributed ideas
for the piece. You will have a private visit inside the
cathedral during which you will hear the choir and meet with
the Bishop.

(C) Blackburn Mosque
--------------


17. (C) For security reasons, this portion of the visit is
being kept close-hold and unannounced until shortly before
you arrive. You will meet with the Imam and other Mosque
officials and observe a female-only religious instruction
class.

(U) Blackburn Town Hall/Constituency Office
--------------


18. (U) Built in the 1850s, the Town Hall will be the site
of your meeting with Muslim leaders, civic leaders and the
town Council, and it is the site of a press event following
your visit to the mosque. You will then accompany Straw
for a short visit to his small constituency office where you
will greet his staff.

(U) Hoghton Tower
--------------


19. (U) Your lunch with the traveling press takes place at
Hoghton Tower -- a beautiful example of English Renaissance
architecture. Hoghton Tower is famous as the site of the
knighting of the loin of beef (&Sir Loin") by King James I
of England in 1617. There is some evidence that William
Shakespeare spent time at Hoghton Tower in the 1580s working
as a tutor. The tower is still in the Hoghton family but
open to the public, and it is an opportunity for Straw to
demonstrate how people in this region treasure the past while
building the future.


(C) Hope Street Hotel
--------------


20. (C) Your hotel is located in an area on the upswing, the
chic Hope Street Quarter, between Liverpool's two cathedrals,
across the street from the newly-restored Philharmonic Hall.
The landmark 1860 building, in the style of a Venetian
Palazzo, was originally home to the London Carriage Works and
is a prime example of economic revival in a once-derelict
part of the city. On your way to the Maritime Museum in the
revitalized Albert Dock area, you will see the forest of
building cranes that are transforming Liverpool -- the
Paradise Street shopping center now under construction will
be Europe's largest shopping area.

(U) Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA)
-------------- --------------


21. (U) Sir Paul McCartney helped transform this school --
his and fellow Beatle George Harrison's former grammar school
-- into a world-class performing arts institute with 630
students, one third of whom come from outside the UK. You
will have an opportunity to greet students and observe a
performance.

(U) Liverpool Philharmonic
--------------


22. (U) Opened in 1849, rebuilt in 1939, and restored in
1995, the Philharmonic Hall presents 250 concerts and other
events every year. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
Orchestra, one of the world's oldest, gives over 60 concerts
a year in this hall. You will hear a concert by the
Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by a dinner, during which
you will have the opportunity to meet Philharmonic officials
and Liverpool dignitaries.

(U) Maritime Museum
--------------


23. (U) The Merseyside Maritime Museum commemorates
Liverpool's historic role as a port and trading center.
Liverpool dominated the transatlantic slave trade from about
1750 to 1807 when slavery was abolished in Britain, and the
Museum has an important and moving exhibit on the slave
trade. The slavery exhibit was inaugurated by Maya Angelou.

(U) Liverpool Cathedral
--------------


24. (C) Liverpool Cathedral (Church of England) is England's
largest. Construction began in 1904 and was finally
completed in 1978. You will attend Sunday services with the
Foreign Secretary.

Visit London's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm
Tuttle